Desert Treasure

Desert Treasure is one of the more challenging and dangerous quests in RuneScape. Do not underestimate this quest, as even high level players (Combat 100+) have been known to die while completing Desert Treasure.

It is strongly recommended that you have a high Magic level before attempting this quest. 60 Attack would be a significant help as well so that you can use Dragon weapons, and 43 or higher Prayer is recommended.

Travel to the Digsite east of Varrock, and talk to the expert inside the building at the south end of the site. He will take the etchings, and talk to him again to gain the translation to take back to the archaeologist.

Go back to the archaeologist in the desert. Read the book once you get it, but when talking to the archaeologist, choose option: Don't read - kind of boring. Agree to helping him.

Go south to the Bandit Camp (Make sure you aren't wearing any god items when entering the camp else the bandits will attack you!) - it's not far and talk to the barman there, buy a beer for 650 coins, and find out about the four Diamonds of Azzandra.

Talk to Eblis in the same camp (directly east of the bar past the general store). Ask him of the four diamonds. He will tell you that he needs various items to create some scrying mirrors.

Go back to the bank, and withdraw or collect necessary items, and then return to Eblis and give him the items he needs. Use the items on Eblis and he will take them.

A player gazes into the mirror.

Note: The following items can be noted:

6 Molten Glass

12 Magic Logs

6 Steel Bars

Eblis will disappear and appear a little to the south-east on top of a hill. Go to him there and you will see 6 mirrors - look in all of them to try and find the location of the diamonds. The mirrors aren't perfect, however, as they show where the diamonds have been at one time. Because of this, two of the mirrors show other locations - the Bedabin Camp and the Pyramid itself, but you need to acquire the diamonds from the other locations first. You may attempt the diamonds in any order.

Note: At some point in the quest, you may be attacked by a level 95 Stranger who carries a poisoned Dragon dagger (So look back at your screen now to be safe). This is random and does not happen to everyone. Carry a teleport and anti-poison and have some Prayer points remaining until you finish the quest. Players can simply flee from him when he appears if they do not wish to fight him.

Travel to Canifis, and talk to Malak in the pub telling him that you're looking for a diamond. He tells you that he'll give you the diamond if you kill Dessous and give you a list of items that you need after you've asked him how to kill Dessous.

Take the pot to Entrana (make sure you have no weapons/armour on you; if you do, once you reach the ship, use the bank deposit box to bank), and get it blessed by the High Priest in the church.

Go back to Canifis, and talk to Malak again. He will fill the pot with blood (your blood!) and damage you for 5 Hitpoints. You need to use a pestle and mortar with the garlic and add it to the pot along with some spice - the Ardougne Spice Stall is the best place to get this. (Note that if you forgot to bless your pots, the High Priest will still bless it when it is full of blood - although he will be slightly shocked!) Before going to Dessous, crush the garlic into powder, and put the powder and spice into the pot of blood. The examine for the pot should read: A blessed silver pot filled with blood, garlic and spices. If the examine does not say this and you attempt to kill Dessous, he will regenerate to full hitpoints and you will need to refill the pot.

Travel via the Myreque shortcut, across the bridge, then run east around the pools in the swamp, zig-zagging south and north.

Once you arrive at the graveyard, pour the blood on the tomb and Dessous will appear. He teleports making it impossible to safe spot him.

Dessous is weak to Air Magic, so use your highest level Air spell that you have access to.

It's best to use Protect from Melee, and cast magic on him up close. He uses all three attack styles, so be prepared. Eat food as necessary. The objective is to defeat him as quickly as possible. A common mistake made by players while fighting Dessous is to get into a panic and attempt to either devour large amounts of food or run around attempting to find a better spot. This can be a critical mistake and could cost you the battle or even your life. An alternative tactic is to use a halberd to range him around the fence whilst using Protect from Magic. As soon as Dessous teleports through, run around the other side of the fence and use the halberd on him again.

Return to Malak in Canifis to claim the Blood diamond; if the game says Dessous has gotten bored and left when his health has been fully depleted, it means you have defeated him, so don't worry. However, if Dessous dissapears before his health has been depleted, or you die or exit the fight early, you will have to make another pot of blood with the spices and garlic and fight him again.

Teleport to Trollheim (if completed Eadgar's Ruse and at least 61 Magic, otherwise use the passage taken in Death Plateau), and then climb down the hill and travel towards the thrower trolls. Before you get to them, you should see a passage on your left. Go down this passage until you see a small child standing by an ice gate. This is the entrance to the Ice Path. It should start to snow as you walk down the passage.

Talk to the child and he will start crying, give him the chocolate cake. He will then tell you that his mum and dad have been captured by a bad man.

Enter the ice gate and kill 5 trolls (any of those in the area) by casting Fire Magic up close and using Protect from Melee. Sip from a Restore potion when your Magic falls below the required level and eat as required. Once you have killed 5 trolls at the gate, the cave at the back should open. You can check your progress by examining the cave. Return to the bank and wait for your stats to recover, or simply die (either while holding nothing or in the Clan Wars portal via the Minigame Group Finder teleport), and respawn to get them restored quickly.

A player fights Kamil.

Now, you have to go and kill Kamil. He uses a selection Ice spells from the Ancient Magicks, which freeze you while you're trying to attack. For this, have:

Because every stat, including your Magic level will be drained periodically by a snowstorm whilst in the icy area, it is advised that you bring Super restore potions instead of Prayer potions and an emergency teleport, such as the Ectophial or a Teleport Tablet in case you run out of food and/or become unable to cast Teleport spells to escape. You do not want your spells to stop casting because your Magic level has been drained below the level required to cast your active spell. The most commonly chosen battle spell is Fire Bolt, as its level 35 Magic requirement allows you to continue casting the spell for longer than the level 59 Fire Blast, which has a maximum hit of 16. Additionally, wearing the Chaos gauntlets bolsters the maximum damage of Fire Bolt to 15, which is only 1 less than Fire Blast.

Freeing the ice troll child's parents.

Go back to Trollheim and back to the ice gate. This time, go through the cave at the back and follow the path round until you come to an open area, where you will find Kamil - you ought to activate Protect from Melee to protect against the deadly wolves on the path. Once there, attack him with fire spells up close and have the Protect from Melee prayer on at all times. He dies fairly quickly, but watch your health, your prayer points and your Magic level.

Once he is dead, you need to follow a very hard to see path. Travel west a little then north, then east, north again until you can go no further, then west and south until you reach the edge of the ice ledge.

Put on your spiked boots and climb up the ledge. You might fall as you walk along the ice path and take damage; using your (Super)restore potion to restore your Agility level will help here. Follow the ice path all the way to the top until you see the Troll's parents encased in ice. Attack the cases with melee or magic (they have 10 Hitpoints each and are easier to melt with magic) and free the trolls. Bring an extra super restore or two, otherwise it's very hard to break. After freeing the troll parents, they will take you back outside the gate and give you the Ice diamond.

If you are completely out of food when you reach the final ice path, you can use the prayer Redemption (requires 49 Prayer) to stay alive. Since you only take 1 or 2 damage at a time, this prayer will keep you alive without risk of dying, should you run out of food. However, note that this prayer will drain all your remaining prayer points when its effects are triggered, so it is advised to only use do this if you have several doses of super restores, or prayer potions.

Take all of the items listed above and travel to the Smokey Well. It is marked on the world map; hug the cliffs on the west side of Pollnivneach, and head south to find it.

A map of the dungeon.

A player fights Fareed.

Enter the well. In each of the four corners of this dungeon, there are torches that you need to light using your tinderbox. The lamps will burn out if you take too long. If you walk, the first lamp will burn out by the time you reach the chest. Plan your route through the dungeon first, but then run and light all the torches, sipping energy potions as you run, and when all four are lit, go to the centre of the dungeon and open the burnt chest that contains a key. You can light all torches in less than 2 minutes, 1 or 2 dose of stamina potion may be enough.

Once you have the key, there's no need to run any more. Stroll to the east part of the dungeon where there is a gate. Use the key with the gate and Fareed will appear.

Note: If you are not wearing ice gloves, you will not be able to wield anything in your weapon or shield slot. If you're unable to get ice gloves, it's still possible to kill Fareed by manually casting Water spells without a staff; Fareed is very weak to water spells, but they are also the only damaging spells that work against him.

Fareed is relatively easy compared to the other 3 diamond warriors. Nevertheless, caution is required! If you die after entering Fareed's lair, you will lose your key. If he kills you or you leave the fight, you do not need to relight the torches and reobtain the key. It is unlikely you will need prayer potions at all against him. Simply use the Protect from Melee prayer, and kill him in whatever way you choose. Protect from Melee is extremely important, however, because his melee attacks can hit in the high 30's. Although melee is very efficient, water spells and Curse spells are his main weakness. Magic-resistant armour such as studded leather or dragonhide will almost completely block out his magic attack. He is weak enough against melee, but if you're planning on ranging, use ice arrows that are obtained during the Temple of Ikov quest.

Once he is dead, he will drop the Smoke diamond. (If the Smoke Diamond is lost, the diamond will reappear in the chamber on the ground. Instead of the player fighting Fareed again.)

Take several lock picks, which can be bought from Martin Thwait's Lost and Found (if you have 50 agility), an anti-poison potion, and some food to the Bandit Camp in the desert south of Al-Kharid. In the southern tent is a Secure Chest. Use your picklocks on it until you manage to open it and get a gilded cross - this is usually easier said than done. There are three locks which you must get through, all of which reset themselves if any attempt should fail. Each failure will use up a lockpick and will deal damage. There is also a chance you may be poisoned, so do not underestimate the value of an anti-poison potion or food. Pickpocketing nearby Bandits will sometimes give you lockpicks and antipoisons, so bring lots of them, and pickpocket more when you run out.

Return to Rasolo, and exchange the gilded cross for the visibility ring.

When you wear it, a ladder will appear to the east of him in the picnic spot.

Note: If you plan to use the safe spot, lure his first form there. Otherwise, his second form will just disappear into the shadows.

When you climb down the ladder, head east as far as you can, then north as far as you can. Head east, and go south as far as possible at the first option. Go east again. You will see a little cave to your south as you go past. If you run into this, you can recharge hitpoints and run energy without using vital supplies. After this, take the next turn north, then go east, and you will reach Damis' cave. Activate Protect from Melee to ward off the giant skeletons and shadow hounds since this is a multi-combat area. Run around for a while, and he'll appear.

Attack and kill Damis' first form, which is level 103 and only attacks with melee and is fairly easy to beat.

He will then change to his second form, which is level 174 and rapidly drains Prayer. This form is significantly harder.

There are several tried and tested methods for fighting the second form of Damis, and a few will be listed here. See which one looks best for you and try it. Whichever method you choose, he will drop the Shadow diamond after you defeat him.

There is currently a glitch where your player may retaliate against the skeletons in the fight with Damis. To avoid this, attack him after potion sips, food, etc.

Inventory: A one click teleport (like the Ectophial), 10-20 prayer potions, and with the rest of your inventory full of sharks or better food. Optional: A couple of super energy potions to be used for shortening the journey through the maze.

Tactic: This is basically making Damis into a regular fight, just a bit harder. If you have ever fought another creature that only uses melee with prayer, this is basically the same only you will be using more potions. Use Earth Wave/Blast, and kill him quickly. It is possible to use melee or range, but he is weak to Earth spells and incredibly strong against melee, so it is not recommended.

Tactic: As soon as you see Damis, put on the Protect from Melee prayer, and use all of your Dragon dagger (p++)special attacks on him. This will lower his health and poison him, but it's the poison that is most important. As soon as you have done this, run into the safe room to the north west. Hide in there until you can see that his poison damage is as low as 2, and hit him with another 4 specials. Repeat until he is dead.

Tactic: Once you encounter Damis, activate your Protect from Melee prayer. Once you have done that, exit out the way you came, and go south, then head towards east. From there you should see a giant rat. There's also another rat roaming around a passage northwest of the area where Damis appears. Either way, position yourself behind the rat, and you can attack it with a weak attack or spell, and Damis can be attacked with magic without you being harmed.

Return to Eblis at the six mirrors in the desert. Be sure to have the four diamonds in your inventory. Go to the Pyramid southeast of Eblis (marked "Pyramid" on the world map), and place one diamond in each of the four obelisks at the outside corners of the pyramid. Each obelisk takes a specific diamond. You should be able to determine the diamond from the appearance of the obelisk, but trial-and-error placement also works. It is not possible to put a diamond into the wrong obelisk; it is also not possible to take a diamond back out of the obelisk.

When all four obelisks are activated, the pyramid will open and can be entered from the top.

Desert heat is not a factor inside the pyramid, but almost all of the interior is dangerous, with level 124 scarab swarms occasionally boiling out of the floor, and level 110 mummies roaming about and spontaneously popping out of sarcophagi. All monsters use only melee, though the scarab swarms can also poison. The scarab swarms, spontaneous mummies, and traps cannot be detected in advance. The room containing the altar on Level 4, however, is safe.

Every time a scarab swarm appears or a mummy pops out of a sarcophagus, you will stop moving, and will not be able to move until the animation has finished. It is possible to avoid a scarab swarm entirely by making sure it is behind a mummy. There are also randomly activated traps that will send you back to the entrance of the pyramid if you stand still for too long. The trap placement is seemingly random so it's recommended to avoid stopping, and by bringing weight-reducing clothing and plenty of energy restore potions, you can greatly reduce the chance of running into one of these traps. If you get caught by a trap, you will be taken outside to the south side of the pyramid but with no damage done. Do not click directly to the ladder but keep clicking to your goal as this will reduce the chances of getting caught by traps. Just walk north and re-enter the pyramid to start over. It is useful to use a strange fruit while inside the pyramid due to the fact that it recovers 30% run energy and cures any kind of poison you may have gotten while inside the pyramid.

The levels in the pyramid are numbered in the order the player encounters them in the quest. The purple line marks the route.

Diagram of the pyramid's exterior

Outside

Enter the pyramid from its top. The southern entrance to Level 4 and the Ancient Magicks altar can only be used after the quest has been completed.

Level 1 of Jaldraocht

Level 1

Run from the entrance ladder to the Level 2 ladder. This level is the smallest in the area, with the fewest mummies. If possible, flash your prayer and save your run energy.

Level 2 of Jaldraocht

Level 2

Run from the Level 2 ladder to the Level 3 ladder. This level is the second smallest in area, with a few more mummies roaming about. This room might have a few traps. Be sure to look out for them.

Level 3 of Jaldraocht

Level 3

Run from the Level 3 ladder to the Level 4 ladder. This level is fairly large in area, presenting more of a challenge to players traversing it. A significant number of mummies are roaming about, and there is a vast amount of traps.

Level 4 of Jaldraocht

Level 4

Run from the Level 3 ladder to the altar room. This level is quite large in area, with a lot of mummies roaming about everywhere except the altar room. The altar room is separated by a door - do not rely on the minimap to run outside.

It is possible for a scarab swarm to boil up inside the altar room, but this only happens if it was boiling up as you were entering the room. If this is the case, trap it between the door and an obstacle that is just in front of the door. Speak to Azzanadra, who has lost track of time and believes that the God Wars are still going on. He goes on to talk about some ancient unknown civilisations like Paddewwa, Lassar and Annakarl. He is also surprised to see that he cannot hear Zaros in his mind anymore.

Azzanadra, finally coming to peace with the reality, rewards the adventurer with the Ancient Magicks of Zaros, for their efforts. (If Azzanadra is not present, use the altar and he should appear.)

Ability to use Ancient Magicks: At any time, you can pray at the altar and change between the standard and Ancient Magicks spellbooks. After traversing the pyramid for the first time, you may enter via the back-door of the pyramid to gain a short cut to the altar. Be warned that changing spellbooks will drain your prayer to 0.